Swiss Military Retro 2.0 Review: Very Demure, Very Mindful
Swiss Military Retro 2.0 Review: The Retro 2.0 knows its role and serves your audio needs like a dutiful jukebox.
Swiss Military Retro 2.0 Review: For starters, I didn’t know Swiss Military was into anything beyond wristwatches. Turns out, Swiss Military India has a plethora of affordable and quality products up for grabs, from backpacks to TWS earbuds. When I came across Swiss Military Audio’s Retro 2.0 Bluetooth speakers, I didn’t know what to expect. Well, I was pleasantly surprised when after a review period of over two weeks, I found myself strangely drawn to this good-looking piece of gadget, not for anything else but the personality it exudes. It almost feels like the speaker is self-aware of what it’s capable of and isn’t making any hue and cry about what it can’t.
Swiss Military Retro 2.0 Review: Quick Pointers
What I love:
- Gorgeous design that brightens up your room
- Surprisingly punchy sound
- Plenty of connectivity options
- Good ol’ FM radio mode
- Solid battery performance
What I don’t:
- Not capable of dynamic sound signature
- Not designed for portability
Very Demure
While you might think that the headline of this review is just a shoutout to the popular 2024 Instagram trend, the thing is, Swiss Military Retro 2.0 is indeed demure. It doesn’t come out screaming with UFO-esque RGB lights or a design that looks like it belongs to Tony Stark’s garage.
Speaking of design, the Retro 2.0 borrows heavily from Marshall’s Acton and Stanmore range, with wooden panels and a cream grille with the brand logo emblazoned on it.
The radio antenna sticks out from behind, staying true to the overall retro vibes. It comes with 20W Class D amplifiers, which are mostly found in top-tier speakers and are known for their analogue output notably loud sound.
What these Class D amps do for the Retro 2.0 speaker is that it makes the overall package extremely light, without compromising a lot on the overall sound output. However, since the entire technology inside is very analogue-output oriented, what the speaker lacks is finesse.
So, retro songs (or the remastered versions of them) sound excellent on this speaker. You put up “Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar” by Jagjit Singh and your hand will automatically reach out for that lonesome glass of whiskey. You play “Mr Tambourine Man” by Bod Dylan and you instantly get a hit of unfiltered ‘60s jangly sound signature.
However, if you put on modern numbers, such as “Lavish” by Twenty One Pilots or “Lunch” by Billie Eilish, you tend to miss a smart chip inside to deal with the many digital trickeries used during the mastering of these groove-heavy tracks. There is almost no thump of bass on The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” or any residue of dreamy keyboards on “Satellite” by Harry Styles.
The inbuilt FM radio works without a fuss. The amps are capable enough to handle almost every change in frequency and don’t drill noise into your ears especially when commercials come on.
Very Mindful
Swiss Military Retro 2.0 knows its role. Apart from Bluetooth and FM modes, the speaker supports several other connectivity options, including a TF card slot as well as a USB-A port. The speaker comes bundled with an aux cable as well, which makes it easily compatible with our dads’ phones.
Retro 2.0 is here to sit pretty in a corner of your room and play your songs like a dutiful jukebox. It doesn’t promise anything more than that and definitely doesn’t do any less.
The battery is solid enough, with a backup of 10 hours on each full charge. It charges up via a USB-C port and doesn’t take too long to juice up either, especially if you use a 30W fast charger.
Although the speaker comes with a strong strap and is pretty lightweight (less than 1.7 kg), I can't forsee anyone carrying a hefty, boxy speaker on their next trek up the hills. So, this is more of a lounging speaker rather than a outdoors-y one.
Swiss Military Retro 2.0 Review: Final Verdict
The Swiss Military Retro 2.0 might remind you of Saregama Carvaan speakers. Except this one has noticeably better Bluetooth speakers and is just as easy to use. I got a kick out of the slide-to-turn-on mechanism of the power button. Very retro, indeed.
Priced at just Rs 2,409, this would certainly make for a great gift for the folks back home. Or, if you are one of those who have a special playlist of delectable vintage numbers by honourable ustaads from a bygone era, the Retro 2.0’s unapologetically crunchy amps could be just what you need on a quiet evening.
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